Businessman thinking of relocating after MCSO stop

By Curtis Riggs | July 8, 2009

Tired of looking over his shoulder
CAREFREE – The town could lose more shops after a businessman who has a couple of storefronts and leases a warehouse in town was recently harassed by a Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy.

Alf Taylor owns Carefree Rug and Kilim on the south side of Spanish Village. He leases warehouse space just across Cave Creek Road. He is well known in the Spanish Village area and around the Black Mountain Coffee Shop.

The deputy, who was looking for a reported prowler in the Ridgeview Estates subdivision, stopped Taylor when he was riding his bicycle home for lunch.

The deputy was looking for someone who wore his baseball cap sideways and had his pants stuffed down inside his socks. He indicated he was sure he had his man when he stopped the mild-mannered Taylor.

Taylor said one of the officer’s first remarks to him was, “We know it’s you.” The officer told him many times he had a picture of Taylor in a Ridgeview Estates backyard.

Taylor said the officer then grabbed his hat and twisted it sideways.

‘That went beyond suspicion to harassment,” he said about the deputy’s demeanor.

“I’m considering leaving Carefree because Carefree isn’t carefree anymore,” Taylor said.
He’s considering the possibility of moving his Spanish Village inventory to a store he recently opened in Prescott. Another hot slow summer in downtown Carefree is another factor he’s taking into consideration.

“Then there will be three more empty spaces in town,” he said about the even-money chances between moving to Prescott and staying in Carefree.

Carefree Vice Mayor Glenn Miller knows Taylor from the coffee shop. He said Taylor is always quick to help others. Through his duties as law-enforcement liaison to the town council, he spoke to MCSO District 4 Commander Capt. Kenneth Holmes about the incident.

“This is not a good place for young aggressive cops,” Miller said. “This is not a high crime area. We don’t need that up here.”

The vice mayor quickly adds, “We also don’t want to lose business people who like it here.”
It appears the police did not get their man because another MCSO officer stopped Taylor while riding his bike the following day. This time the officer was an MCSO sergeant who treated him decently and helped to restore his faith in the sheriff’s office and its personnel.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” Taylor said about the attitude of the second officer.